Firefighters try to put out a fire from a passenger coach after its collision with a cement tanker truck on the highway between Hefei and Nanjing in dense fog near Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 9, 2010. [Xinhua]

At least 17 people were killed and 6 were seriously injured after a passenger coach collided with a cement tanker truck in east China's Jiangsu Province, local authorities said Sunday.

On Saturday morning, a cement tanker truck collided with a passenger coach on the highway between Hefei, capital of the eastern Anhui Province and Nanjing, capital of the neighboring Jiangsu Province.

The accident occurred while the area was shrouded in thick fog, and the collision caused the truck to catch fire before rolling off the roadbed and crashing on the coach, local authorities told Xinhua.

The passenger coach was carrying 53 people, exceeding its capacity of 47, said officials.

Besides those who died following the accident, 23 injured passengers were transported to hospital, including six who were seriously injured.